Voyeurs Anonymous?

It made me sad this week having to explain to my 9-year-old son that his pin-up hero Steven Gerrard was back in court on charges of assault. But the media loves airing the dirty laundry of these fallen celebrities.

Examples this week include headlines about singer Amy Winehouse punching someone, David Beckham getting in a debacle with a jeering fan, a 112 mph speeding nun, and the expense scandals of the BBC executives and even the Equalities and Human Rights Commissioners.

Jacob, after whom the nation of Israel was named, had undeniable celebrity status. His story continues in our Bible readings this week as more of his dirty laundry is apparently aired.

We read the grisly details of how he double-crossed his brother, exploited his father’s disability, had a bigamous relationship, and ended up with the family silver. But this is no reveling in the indiscretions of the rich and famous. This is gospel truth. So how should we react?

This week the news headlines took on personal significance for me. The deaths of children from swine flu, the hospitalised sufferers and the emergency H1N1 website which crashed because of demand on its launch became part of my story as my 3-year-old daughter and disabled 9-month-old foster daughter were diagnosed with the virus.

This is how it should feel as we read the story of Jacob. The story takes on personal significance as we struggle with all our bizarre family and work relationships.

Whether we are dealing with hopeless romantics, manipulative bosses, desperate housewives, sibling rivals or fallen heroes we can find our story in Jacob’s story, and our hope in God’s grace to a dysfunctional family.

Krish Kandiah

Krish Kandiah is Executive Director Churches in Mission at the Evangelical Alliance. He runs Slipstream the Evangelical Alliance's leadership e-letter and podcast. Sign up this month to win one of ten copies of Tim Keller's "The Prodigal God- recovering the heart of the Christian faith." http://www.eauk.org/slipstream
http://krishk.wordpress.com